Summer 2012 Review - Lake Forest Academy

“I just wasn’t getting what I neededfrom my old school,” relates Alex as heexplains his decision to leave his hometownof St. Charles, Illinois to join LFAhis sophomore year.Tall and somewhat lanky, Alex is comfortablein dress-shirt and tie, sleevesrolled up to his elbows, backpack restingcasually at his feet.Alex Pankhurstthree-year boarderHometown: st. charles, illinois“I wasn’t challenged academically andit was too big.”So, he began to explore his options,first looking to private day schools.“I wasn’t too sure about living awayfrom home. I worried I’d miss myalone time since I didn’t grow up withany siblings.”Despite his initial reservations aboutboarding school, Alex finds living oncampus in Atlass to be one of the mostrewarding parts of his LFA experience.“Turns out living with 70 of yourfriends isn’t so bad,” he admits, smiling.Alex wasted little time when he arrivedat LFA.Disappointed with LFA’s technologyofferings, especially in the field of appliedsciences, Alex set out to start anew team. A robotics team.Alex approached Academic Dean PhilSchwartz and proposed that LFA getinvolved with First Robotics Competition,a program Alex had competed inat his middle school. He secured fundingfrom corporate sponsors for the cluband garnered interest from his peers.Founding the team was not withoutits own challenges. LFA lacked adequatespace for the construction of theproject and had to set up in borrowedspace in the basement of the Artsbuilding. Additionally, the studentslacked appropriate tools—making dowith those used to construct the schoolplays. Not to be deterred, under hisleadership, the team was awarded theHonorable Mention for a Rookie teamin 2011.But, one robotics team wasn’t enoughfor Alex.This year, he set out to start a middleschool robotics team at nearby NealMath and Science Academy in NorthChicago. Alex describes the processof contacting local middle school administratorsto inquire whether theywould be interested in starting a roboticsprogram. Almost as an afterthought,he mentions the businessplan he wrote to secure funding fromcorporate sponsors.What drove him to do this? Alex willtell you:“I thought about everything I waslearning with our robotics program atLFA and I wondered what my passionwould be if I hadn’t been introduced torobotics in middle school. I wanted toget involved in community service, butin a way that would be meaningful tome, rather than just donating money.”All year, Alex along with Nyalia Lui ’12spent four hours of their week workingwith the middle-schoolers. Their workpaid off. The team went to the StateCompetition.Heading to Brown University next year,Alex plans to pursue a degree in—not surprisingly—engineering. Though,he likes the fact that at Brown he cantake classes outside of the school ofengineering, and will continue hisstudy of Chinese.Looking back on his three years atLFA, Alex reports, “I think that I’mdefinitely more worldly than I wouldbe if I had stayed at my old school.Having a roommate from Panamaand friends from all over the world,it’s a great opportunity.”feature 25